After graduating from a military academy, William Brinkman attended Officer’s Candidate School where he was given a commission as 2nd Lieutenant. He served during the Korean War, but his division, and a couple of others, were sent to Germany,...

Richard Brooks was born in Canton Township, Michigan. His father died when he was two years old, and his mother later remarried and the family moved to Grand Rapids. He graduated from Central High School in 1933 and joined the Navy in 1940 to...

Maurice Buskers enlisted into the Navy after graduating from Ottawa Hills High School in 1943. He was originally a part of the V-12 Program that would have made him an Officer of the Navy, but he decided to transfer into the Navy Air Corps...

Jim Corbett was born in 1938 in Big Rapids, Michigan. He grew up in Detroit during WWII, attended high school in Big Rapids and graduated from there in 1956. He attended Ferris State University for two years until he enlisted in the Air Force....

Mary Louise Crowell shares what life was like at home prior to, during, and after WW II. With the US involvement in WW II, Mary explains what it meant to take an active role in the war at home like saving lard, oil, tin cans, and using ration...

John Damon was, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1919. When Pearl Harbor happened, he was a cadet at The Citadel, and immediately enlisted in the Navy. However, he was given the opportunity to complete his degree first, so he went on active duty...

William Deary, born in Pontiac, Michigan in July 31st 1925. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943, and was sent first to Miami Beach for basic training, and then to Laredo, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, for training as a gunner. He was sent to Italy...

William Doucette first began his military career in the Civilian Military Training Corps at the age of 15. Leaving after two year to find work in Chicago, Doucette eventually came back to join the Aviation Cadet Program. After making it to his...

Keith Edmondson was born in 1924 in Wheaton, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Glen Ellyn. After graduating from high school, Edmondson began attending Purdue University the following fall, which was where he heard about the Aviation Cadet Program,...

Rosadell Galmish Wolf, wife of 2nd Lieutenant Elvin Jay Galmish, tells the story of her husband during World War II from her perspective. Elvin Jay Galmish enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the age of 21 and trained to be a pilot. His wife...

Denny Gillem was born in Sacramento, California, in 1941. He intended to make the military his career during his high school years, and applied to West Point several times before being accepted. After West Point, he was trained as an Army Ranger,...

Guy Green is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army’s 8th Air Force from January 1943 to September 1945. In this account, Greene discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training, and also gives one a brief picture into the...

Bob Heine was born in 1947 in the Bronx, New York. After high school, he enrolled in the engineering program at Auburn University in Alabama, and completed four years of ROTC training. Instead of going to Vietnam, he was sent to graduate school...

Mike was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1949. He graduated from the Benedictine Military School in 1967 and started college at the University of Georgia. Eventually Mike tired of school and enlisted in the United States Army in 1968. He started...

Kenneth Hicks served in the 8th Air Force as a B-17 pilot based in England in 1944-45. He provides extensive descriptions of the training process and his experience with bombing missions in the later stages of the war.

Gloria Jackson was born in 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She graduated from high school in 1942, just before being accepted into the Cadet Nursing Corps. She trained at Butterworth Hospital, Wayne University, and Percy Jones Hospital (Battle...

Stuart Jennings was born during the beginning of the Depression in Michigan. He said that growing up through that taught him to share, to do things on his own and to treat people well. After graduation Stuart became a cadet in the Army Air Corps...

Duane Koshork was born in Wisconsin in 1925 and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943 and did sheet metal training. After about 10 months of training in the US Duane went to Bombay, India on a troopship and then...